MANILA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government's massive infrastructure program "Build Build Build" is expected to generate an average of 1.1 million jobs annually in the medium term, owing to the government's hefty spending on infrastructure development projects, said a statement on Wednesday.
"This will help address the country's unemployment woes, especially with the influx of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait," Philippine Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has urged thousands of Filipinos working in Kuwait to head home as reports of alleged abuses committed by Kuwaiti employers on Filipino maids continues.
Diokno said the Philippine unemployment rate stands at 5.3 percent as of January, a notable decrease from January 2017's unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
The number of employed persons has improved from 39.35 million in January 2017 to 41.76 million in January this year, Diokno added.
Meanwhile, he said the lowest employment rates for January 2018 were recorded in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 92.2 percent, Ilocos Region in the northern Philippines main Luzon Island, 93.3 percent, and CALABARZON, 93.3 percent. CALABARZON is a region comprising of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces.
"Jobs to be created through the Build Build Build program are mostly associated but are not limited to construction and development," Diokno said.
He said an online jobs portal, which will consolidate job openings, postings, and opportunities related to Build Build Build, is currently in the works, and is expected to be up and running within the year.
Moreover, Diokno said the Build Build Build committee will also be holding a jobs caravan, to present employment opportunities to the public.
The Build Build Build program, which is designed to make up for the inadequacies in the country's dismal state of infrastructure, will usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure in the Philippines, according to the government.
The Duterte administration intends to spend 8 to 9 trillion pesos, or roughly 160 to 180 billion U.S. dollars in the medium term. As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), government estimates infrastructure spending to rise from 5.4 percent of GDP in 2017 to as high as 7.3 percent of GDP in 2022.
"Through this program, the country envisions to put in place a modern and efficient public transportation system -- better roads, bridges, airports, seaports, and railway systems -- that will ensure accessibility to even the most far-flung areas in the Philippines," Diokno said.
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